Improvement



` NIVTED "STATES ATE-NT Fries,

" iM'PRoVEMEN-MN HOP-FRAMES.,

Specification forming 4pa7`rt`of Letters Patent No.,35,29i, (laterhMay 20, 186121,

` llo all rhomt may ccmctwfrt.-` i

Be it known that LLEVI A. BEARDSLEY,

otSonth Edmeston, in the county of Otsego and State of New York, have invented certain new amluset'ul Improvements'ih Hop-Frames; l and l do hereby declare that the followingis a `full, clear, and exact description thereof, refert ence being had `to Ithe accompanying drawings,

forming part of thisl specification, in which-'- Figure l represents aperspective view ot' a portion ofa hop-frame embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the' hooks t and of a portion of the wire to which it is attached, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of thehook t.

Similar letters ot' reference denote thesame part in the several figures.

Myinven tion relates toim-provements in wire frames for sustaining hop-vines during ltheir growth. l l i The irstfeature of mysad invention relates particularly to wire hop-frames constructed in a methodsccured to me by Letters Patent dated September 3, 1861', in whicha series ot" permanent horizontal wires sustain a series of f horizontal detachable wires lying under and at a right angle with the `first, and to which `the upper ends of the training-cords are attached,

having for an object to'prevent extensive damage bein g done to the frame and the vines by lightning striking any one ot'rthe wires; and

y to this endthesaid leading feature of my invention consists `in interposing insulators formed ot' wood or ot'otherenouelectic conducting material between the lowervwires and the upper ones'f. which sustain them in such a manner'rthat velectricity will be prevented from l n"'passingfrom any ot' the lower to any of the upper wires, and `consequentlyqbetween' any after described, so as to brace the cords apart and prevent in "a measure their swaying and ltwisting by the actionof the wind; and my invention also consistsin forming the trainingcordsof wireintertwiued with a fibrous strand or cord,'i`n order that the cords7 mayhave the strength and stiffness of the wire, while at the same time theymayaiford a libroussurface for the vines to cling to; and my'invention `also consists in the employment of a peculiarlyl formed hook forthe Aattachment of 4the trainiing-cordsto the horizontal wires, constructed substantially in the manner hereinafter set forth, for the purpose specified. Y

To enable others skilledin the arts to make and use my invention, I will proceed to alde- 1 scriptiou thereof. v

In y the accompanying drawings, a b c are parallel permanent wires, attached to posts dd, and Q sustaining a series ot' parallel4 wireslying under and at right angles with which is shown at c.

j' e are wooden insulators interposed between the ends of .the wire e and the wires a and c. These-insulators are'in the ormot' a square bur, having several -pins, g, thrust transversely them, one l of vthrough it, the twoen'ds ot' which project on each side of the bar. The insulators f are attached to the wires by loops of wire h, which slip over the bar and are caught behind the ends -ot the pins g, the loops being secured to the wires by hooks k. The loops, by being made oblong, can be slipped lover the'lbar and be turned so as to catch behind the ends ot' such ofthe pins g as will-sustain the wire e at the proper height.

` l is an insulator, lformed ot a bar ot wood, to

which the wire e is attached by a staple, m, and its weight sustained by a pin, a, passed through the bar and resting on the two strands of which the wirev b is composed." This'insulator Vl may, however, be Iattached to a single horizontal wire by ahook fastened in its upper end. I 'e Each of the series of lower wires is provided with insulators, preventing vtheir contact with l `the permanent wires, and all of them are there- 'fore insulated from each other, so that the-damage from a stroke of lightning will be confined to the part of the yard upon whichit falls, and

will not be conveyed to all the other parts by 4 a continuous net-work of conductingwires.

The training-cords, which lead from the 'ground to the horizontal wires, are in pairs, the two parts of whicho and p, are united at the ground, but'are held apartv by a spreader ot' wood, s, situated about midway between the ground and horizontalv wires. Above this spreader or brace the cords o and p run paral#l lei, and their upper ends arefattached to the wire e by hooks 'formed somewhat in the shape of the Roman capital S. The inner edges'of` the upper half or loop of this hook t are sharp.

nee, as'shovn in Figs; zand s, so that when this part of the h ook is closed upon the wirev (see Fig. 2) the sharpened .edges will indent the wire e slightly, and theehookwill, thereby'- b e prevented from slippingl along the wire,

while at the same Atime it will not he so rigidly r interlocked with the wireasto' prevent a slight tipping movement to accommodate any slight swaying. of the.thejcords,and tolsomeextent prevent their'wearing oli'. `The lower part or loop of the hook is'smoothly rounded, so as notL to 'cut the cord which isuttached to it.

tion withfseries of horizontal wires running at a If'ightan'gle with each other, as described. I

else disclaim the use lof an S-shaped hook un.y

less the inner edge of one of its parts .be angular or sharpened; but

. A-What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. The employment of electric insulators in `Y combination with two series of horizontal wires running at a right langle with each other`sub stantially in the manner and for .theV purpose hereinhefore'set forth. v

2.. The spreader s, in combination with the divergent training-cords-o and p, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. Forming the training-cords of wire intertwined with one or more fibrous strands, for' Vthe purposes specified.-

.4. The use ef the hcoks t, havinga sharp-or' angular inner edge and otherwise constructed ns described, for the purposes'set forth.

- LEVI A. BEARDSLEY. A Witnesses:

' ORRIN ADAMS,

GEO. W. Somme. 

